Under the clear blue sky of the grassland infinty room, Kael was panting heavily, his chest heaving as Azune and Drakes jointly piloted his physical vessel.
Sara tilted her head innocently, smoothing her skirts. "Not sure... probably around 10%."
Both Drakes and Azune froze completely, their eyes widening in sheer disbelief. "HUH?!"
Before they could recover from the shock, Sara extended her hand toward the sky, her green pupils glowing with an eerie, blinding light.
"Eternity Rings!" she yelled.
Massive, glowing green circles materialized in the air behind her, humming with lethal divine magic.
Seeing the oncoming onslaught, Kael's body sprinted forward at maximum speed, cutting through the tall grass like a shadow.
"Azune, let me handle this," Drakes growled inside Kael's mind. "I'll make her lose."
Azune closed her eyes within the soul space, relinquishing her control. "Fine. Don't ruin his body."
The purple glow vanished from Kael's left eye. Instantly, both of his pupils turned into a pitch-black abyss as Drakes reclaimed full control of the vessel.
Sara smirked as she charged forward, her wooden sword tearing through the air. "You really think you can win?"
Drakes closed Kael's black eyes for a fraction of a second, his voice dark and raspy. "I don't know... but I'm going to try."
Sara closed the distance in a flash. Drakes shifted Kael's footing by a fraction of an inch, narrowly dodging a lethal thrust.
"Tch..." Drakes cursed internally. "I didn't think I'd have to pull out the Death Scythe..."
Sara's eyes narrowed. "That's Nyxara's weapon... isn't it?"
Drakes let out a harsh, echoing laugh through Kael's mouth. "Yeah! It sure is!"
Two swirling purple void circles opened on either side of Kael. Drakes reached inside, pulling out the massive, dark-bladed Death Scythe, swinging it toward Sara with terrifying force.
CLANG!
Just before the blade made contact, a violent, golden spark flashed inside Kael's subconscious. The sudden pulse of raw spiritual shock threw Drakes off balance, shattering his momentum.
Capitalizing on the opening, Sara struck with her wooden sword, driving it directly into Kael's chest.
BOOM!
Kael crashed hard onto the grass, the heavy Death Scythe slipping from his grip. Before the cursed weapon could hit the floor, the two void portals reopened, swallowing the scythe back into the spatial vault.
Inside Kael's soul, Drakes gasped as a dark void tore him away from the physical vessel. Slowly, the pitch-black void in Kael's eyes faded, replaced by his original golden pupils.
Kael lay sprawled on the grassland, clutching his head as a agonizing, burning pain surged behind his brow. "Argh...! I felt something burst behind my eyes!"
He covered his face with his hands, groaning in agony.
Sara walked up from behind, setting her sword down. "Don't make excuses just because you lost."
Kael rolled over, pulling his hands away from his face. "I'm not making an excuse—"
The moment Sara looked at his eyes, a drop of cold sweat rolled down her cheek. Her breath hitched, her face turning pale.
"Wh—What is that...?" she stammered, backing away.
Panic surged through Kael at her reaction. "What?! What's wrong with me?!"
Sara yelled, her voice trembling with genuine horror. "Your eyes!"
Kael stared up at the endless blue sky, a cold, sickening dread sinking into his stomach. "I want to go home... Please, just close the domain."
Sara nodded hastily. Closing her eyes, she snapped her fingers, shattering the Void Realm into a million glowing shards.
An instant later, they were back in the hallway of the bungalow.
Sara grabbed Kael by his collar, dragging his trembling body through the front doors.
Rexon walked out from the living room, but the moment his eyes landed on Kael's face, an icy breeze ran straight down his spine.
"What the hell happened to him?!" Rexon shouted, staring at Kael in utter shock.
Sara swallowed hard, her voice barely a whisper. "I... I don't know..."
Kael frowned, his vision blurring slightly. "What are you guys talking about?!"
Rexon stepped closer, grabbing Kael by the shoulders. "Are you... having trouble seeing right now? Does your vision feel distorted?"
Kael shook his head nervously, trying to act calm. "No... I see fine..."
He took a step forward to walk past them, but his feet felt like they were nailed to the floorboards. Heavy, unnatural weight anchored his body.
Sara pushed him from behind, forcing his legs to move. Kael stumbled toward the bathroom mirror, his legs shaking violently.
He looked up at the glass—and the air left his lungs.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Kael screamed, stumbling back in terror.
He slapped his hands over his eyes, tears of panic welling up. "No way... No way!"
In the mirror, his golden pupils had been shoved upward, crowded by a secondary, pitch-black pupil taking root inside each iris. He had twin pupils in both eyes—a terrifying, inhuman abnormality.
"How do I fix this?!" Kael panicked frantically, pulling out his phone.
With trembling fingers, he took a photo of his eyes and uploaded it to Google image search. The search results flushed with terrifying theories: Polycoria, ancient curses, demonic possession, supernatural mutations. Some online forums were already sharing photos of him, calling him a ghost or a monster.
Kael slammed his fist against his forehead, hyperventilating. "Am I... becoming a monster?!"
Desperate, he stepped closer to the mirror, pulling the skin below his eye downward. The movement revealed the full extent of the horror—a second, fully formed black pupil staring back at him from inside the same eye socket.
His knees buckled. Kael backed out of the bathroom, collapsing onto his bed, staring blindly at the ceiling.
"What is happening to me...?"
He closed his eyes tight.
FLUP!
When he opened them again, the bedroom was gone. He was floating in an absolute, pitch-black void. No light, no sound, no warmth.
"Is... is someone controlling my body?!" Kael yelled into the darkness. "No... that's impossible! I'm fully conscious!"
Suddenly, a cold, emotionless robotic voice echoed from the surrounding shadows.
> [Host Identified. System Initialization Started.]
>
Kael's legs trembled in the dark. "Who are you?! Show yourself!"
> [Host Identified. System Initialization Started.]
>
Kael closed his eyes in pure terror, praying to wake up.
FLUP!
His eyes snapped open. He was back in his bedroom, sitting upright on the soft mattress.
He sprinted to the mirror on his dresser. He stared into the glass—his eyes were completely normal again. The secondary black pupils had vanished entirely, leaving only his clear golden eyes.
Kael burst into a hysterical laugh of relief. "They're gone! My eyes are fine!"
Sara and Rexon rushed into the room, staring intently at his face. They both let out a long, shuddering breath of relief.
"Thank god..." Rexon muttered, wiping cold sweat from his forehead. "It was just a temporary magic backlash."
Kael sat back down on the bed, taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart. Remembering Sara's distress from earlier, he called out into his soul.
Xiyan... can you use your divine restoration magic to fix Sara's hairband?
Xiyan's serene voice echoed inside his mind. "Very well..."
Kael closed his eyes. Xiyan briefly took control of his physical body, channeling pure divine restoration energy into the nightstand where the broken crimson hairband lay.
Within seconds, the shattered fragments fused together, restoring the crimson hairband to its pristine, flawless original state.
Sara's eyes widened in disbelief. She picked up the restored hairband, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. She threw her arms around Kael, hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Kael! Thank you so much!"
Xiyan, still controlling Kael's vocal cords, offered a stiff, awkward smile. "I am actually Xiyan... currently occupying Kael's body."
Sara quickly stepped back, blushing slightly. "Oh... I see."
Xiyan stepped back into the soul realm, expecting Kael to naturally take back control of his body.
Except... Kael didn't return.
In that very second, Kael was pulled back into the suffocating, pitch-black void.
"What the hell is this place?!" Kael screamed into the dark, his voice trembling with fear.
The emotionless robotic voice crackled through the void once more.
> [Name Required. Host Kael Redgrave, please assign a title to this record.]
>
Kael gritted his teeth, his knuckles turning white. "Shut up! Stop talking nonsense and let me go!"
[Name Required. Host Kael Redgrave, please assign a title to this record. Name required to complete exit protocol.]
Kael swallowed his terror, his voice cracking. "Fine! Whatever! Darkness! Is that what you want?!"
[Title Registered: Darkness.]
[Please provide a secondary subtitle to finalize synchronization.]
Kael took a step back in the endless void, his breath ragged. "What?!"
[Generating default subtitle based on host soul resonance...]
[Title Finalized: Darkness — Living On The True Side Of The World.]
[Synchronization Complete. Farewell, Host Kael.]
FLUP!
Kael's vision flashed violently.
He opened his eyes, gasping for air as he found himself sitting on his bed once more.
"Something... something horrific just happened to me..." Kael whispered, shivering uncontrollably.
Beside the bed, Sara was crying tears of relief, clutching her restored hairband. Seeing Kael awake, she wrapped her arms around him once more. "Thank you, Kael..."
Kael offered a weak, hollow smile, his mind completely numb. "I'm glad... your hairband is fixed."
Noticeable tension radiated from Kael's entire body. Sensing the terrifying shift in Kael's aura, Rexon quietly backed out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him to give them space.
Sara pulled back, noticing Kael's pale, traumatized expression. "Kael... what happened to you in there?"
Kael let out a ragged sigh, clutching the bedsheets so tightly his fingers turned white. "I don't know... I'm terrified, Sara."
Sara's heart ached seeing the fearless warrior reduced to such raw terror. She wrapped a supportive arm around his shoulders, helping him stand. "Come on... sit on the sofa in my room. You're safe here."
Kael sank onto the soft sofa in Sara's room, staring blankly at his shaking hands. "Can we... can we call Renjiro and Sarina to come back early?"
He looked up at Sara with hollow, desperate eyes. "I feel so unsafe right now... Like something dark is watching me from inside my own head."
Sara nodded gently, her chest tightening with deep concern. "I'll call them right now. Stay right here, Kael."
Sitting alone on the sofa, Kael stared down at the floor, the robotic words echoing in his mind like a death sentence.
Darkness... Living on the True Side of the World... What have I unlocked inside myself?